VSX v VSY

[1] The plaintiff husband (“the Husband”) and the defendant wife (“the Wife”) were married on 24 August 2005 in India. At the time of the judgment, the Husband and Wife are both 40 years old. They have two children who are 9 and 4 years old respectively this year (“the Children”). The Husband filed for divorce in Singapore on 5 June 2020; an interim judgment was granted on 11 November 2020. The Husband was then the Chief Information Security Officer of [D] Pte Ltd, drawing an average monthly income of $25,000. The Wife was a full-time homemaker. The Husband now seeks a judgment on the ancillary matters for enforcement in India. The Wife did not enter appearance and remained absent throughout the entire proceedings.

[3] The Husband claimed that the pool of matrimonial assets included the following:

(a) Flat #209, Block A of “Schweta Aryan” (“Flat 209”): this is a property located at [address redacted], Telengana State, India. It is jointly owned by the Husband and Wife. Flat #209 was purchased in 2014 at INR4,783,350 (approximately $82,255.56). The estimate value as of 30 November 2020 was $200,000.

(b) Adloor Village Land: this refers to the 300 sq yards of land situated in Adloor Village in Kamareddy, Telengana State, India. The Husband claimed that he had paid for it solely even though the Wife is the sole tenant. Its estimated value as of 30 November 2020 was $110,000. The market value at the time of purchase in 2014 was INR150,000 (approximately $2,736).

(c) Lingapur Village Land: this refers to 142.2 sq yards of land at Lingapur Village in Kamareddy, Telegana State, India, with an estimated value of $51,000 as of 30 November 2020. The Husband claimed that he had paid for it solely even though the Wife is the sole tenant. The purchase price was INR28,500 (approximately $519.88).

(d) Bank Accounts: The Husband and Wife have a joint bank account ([xxx]-[x]-[xx]9506) with a balance of $17.41 as of 30 November 2020. The Husband has a separate DBS Multiplier Account with a balance of $119,533.30. The Husband also has a bank account in an Indian bank, HDFC Bank, with a balance of $6,095.33.

(e) CPF Account: The Husband has the following amounts in his CPF Account:

(f) Jewellery and gold bars: The Husband claimed that he had paid for jewellery and gold bars which are estimated to weigh 1kg, and worth $79,400. The jewellery and gold bars are in the Wife’s possession.

[4] In the hearing before me, the Husband’s counsel submitted that the matrimonial assets should be divided between the parties in the ratio of 83:17 in favour of the Husband, to be dealt with in the following manner:

[5] The Husband claims that he had made all direct and indirect financial contributions as he was the sole breadwinner. He also made significant non-financial contributions during the marriage by providing moral and financial support to the Wife and assisting her with household chores. He was also involved in the upbringing of the children, while the Wife was often busy with Indian dance classes for at least three times a week, for three to four hours each time.

[6] As the pool of matrimonial assets has been identified above at [3], I turn to the issue of ascertaining the total value of the pool of matrimonial assets, before determining a just and equitable division pursuant to s 112(10) of the Women’s Charter (Cap 353, 2009 Rev Ed).